We are officially in winter now with very cold and dark mornings. However it is great to see all of our runners are still out there and motivated no matter what the conditions are! Also on the bright side the days will start to get longer from the 21st of June again as well :).

New Zealand offered some really great running events for us over the last few weeks. Firstly the Rotorua Marathon and the Waiheke Half which was a beautiful weekend with stunning weather. Those were followed by a much colder and very windy Hawke's Bay Marathon. The last big race was the Christchurch Marathon last weekend in freezing and wet conditions. We had some outstanding results and PBs here at GetRunning and it is always great to see our runners improve and succeed.

The next big day on our local race calendar will be the 29th of October - the ASB Auckland Marathon. Entries have opened on the 13th of April and we are very excited to offer our Race Day Package this year again. Not only has a new website been launched but the organisers are also looking at more exciting changes for the lead up and race day. Let's Run The City together! See below for package details which are also perfectly suited for runners coming from out of town.

GETRUNNING TRAVEL

Barossa Valley Half & Full Marathon - Australia

After Gaz has checked out everything for you we are excited about the release of our Runaway Barossa Marathon Package. Please click here for more details.

This tour will not only offer a unique running experience in beautiful Southern Australia but also an extraordinary exploration of the local food and wine specialities. Spots are limited so please contact us asap if you are interested in joining Gaz and GetRunning for an exciting weekend away in October.

Tokyo Marathon 2018 & Future Tours

This tour has already sold out, however, we are always keen on ideas for future marathon tours. Is there any marathon or running event you always wanted to do? It would be awesome if you can send us suggestions and we can have a look at potential tours for the future.

RUN CLINIC

We are almost halfway through block 2 now and we are very excited about the progress our runners are making. The 5k clinic is increasing running time and everyone is looking really good. Also our 10k clinic is improving from week to week and we had very successful and enjoyable Saturday runs with our group.

Although every runner has their own individual level, goals, and challenges, it's great to see the progress they make in a group environment. We cater for a full range of runners- from beginners, people returning from breaks or injury, right through to experienced half & full marathoners.

Remember if you don't already, please follow us on Facebook and Instagram to keep up to date with the latest run clinic adventures!

Word from the coach:

Hi Runners

Its great to see everyone sticking at it over the winter, what a wonderful time to work on everything we can't necessarily work on during those 3 month race build ups. GetRunning's focus for this second block has been to train the endurance system at lower stress levels (long runs under 2hr30mins for marathon and under 1hr40mins for half marathons) so that we can focus on more race conditioning runs. This just means instead of focusing on endurance for the off season, you can also work on speed. Often it's tricky to work on speed during race build up as our body is just managing to cope with the distance of training.

A typical race conditioning session can look like this... 18-21km long weekend run with 6km of pace inserted in the middle of the session. The half marathon would focus on 10-12km run with 4km of pace inserted. The pace focus is around 30secs increase or 10-15bpm increase for heart rate. Have a go and remember we cover all of this and more at our run clinic so don't be afraid to pop along and give us a try.

See you soon... Gaz

That's it for now team.

Check out our tours below, meet our new coach Maree and please let us know if you have any questions.

Meet the Team: Maree Leith

Your name & what you do?

Maree and I am a Mum of 3, wife, Personal Training, owner of The Get Moving Festival and I Manage the Paihia Half marathon, Online trainer, Pilates Instructor & GetRunning coach for the 5k & 10k clinic

1) What's your favourite race and why?

Tarawera Marathon - because I overcame my fear of Trail running and the scenery and variation helped take the focus off the pain hehe.

2) If you could run with anyone who would it be?(living or dead)

Anyone slower than me!!

3) What's your pre race breakfast?

1/2 banana and coffee, coffee and more coffee

4) What would our runners be surprised to know about you?

I only started running 5 years ago and 96kgs heavy

5) What is your dream race / run that you would like to do?

The Taniwha Ultra Marathon - which I am training to do this November YIKKKS

6) What's your favourite post race celebratory drink or food item?

KFC

7) What is one piece of advice you would give our runners?

Plan then enter your next 6 months of events to keep you motivated and inspired to get out and train.

8) What is your one running piece of clothing / item you cannot do without?

Good quality running sox, knickers and bra - the essentials make for a good running experience and less chaffing :)

Saturday, 21 October

RUNAWAY BAROSSA MARATHON PACKAGE

GetRunning are taking you to this exciting and inaugural event in Southern Australia. All you have to do is run and enjoy your trip, as you'll be well looked after the whole time.